Do I have to sign a long contract for alarm monitoring?

Usually yes — twelve months is common and longer terms are often used to subsidise hardware — but terms vary and are negotiable. The details that matter more than the headline length are the notice period, what happens at automatic renewal, and whether price increases are capped.

Longer terms are not automatically bad. A provider absorbing the cost of a communicator has to recover it somehow, and a three-year term with the hardware included can be cheaper overall than a rolling contract you pay upfront for.

The clauses to read before signing: the notice period required to end the contract and the exact form notice must take; whether the contract auto-renews and for how long; how and by how much prices can rise mid-term; whether the communicator is yours or rented, and what happens to it at the end; and any early-termination charge.

Auto-renewal on a long term with a short notice window is the combination that causes most complaints in this category. If you miss the window, you can be locked in for another full term.

Get the whole thing in writing before committing, and be wary of any pressure to sign at the survey visit.